With a gritty 20-16 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday night, the Houston Texans clinched a third straight postseason appearance, capping a remarkable turnaround following an 0-3 start to the season that is typically a death sentence. But the Texans never stopped fighting, never quit believing, and in the end, they overcame seemingly insurmountable odds.
But with just a week left in the regular season, we still have no idea who the Texans will be playing, where they'll be playing them, or if Houston will make franchise history and enter the Playoffs as a Wild Card team for the first time, or if they'll be crowned AFC South champions for the third straight year.
If you're at all like me, then you probably want to know every possible scenario heading into Week 18, and if that's the case, you've come to the right place. What do you say we make like Degeneration X, and break it down?
How the Texans can be a 3 seed
SCENARIO #1: Win vs. Indianapolis Colts + Jacksonville Jaguars loss vs. Tennessee Titans
How the Texans can be a 5 seed
SCENARIO #1: Win vs. Indianapolis Colts + Jacksonville Jaguars win vs. Tennessee Titans
OR
SCENARIO #2: Loss/Tie vs. Indianapolis Colts + Buffalo Bills loss vs. New York Jets + Los Angeles Chargers loss vs. Denver Broncos
How the Texans can be a 6 seed
SCENARIO #1: Loss/Tie vs. Indianapolis Colts + Buffalo Bills loss vs. New York Jets + Los Angeles Chargers win vs. Denver Broncos
OR
SCENARIO #2: Loss/Tie vs. Indianapolis Colts + Buffalo Bills win vs. New York Jets + Los Angeles Chargers loss vs. Denver Broncos
How the Texans can be a 7 seed
SCENARIO #1: Loss/Tie vs. Indianapolis Colts + Buffalo Bills win vs. New York Jets + Los Angeles Chargers win vs. Denver Broncos
Now again, if you're like me, you're craving more details than this. You want to know under what circumstances the Texans would play any of their AFC foes. Well don't worry, because once again, I've got ya covered.
-Assuming the Texans remain the 5 seed, they'll play the winner of Sunday night's matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, which is for the 4 seed and the AFC North crown.
-If the Texans slip down to the 6 or 7 seed, there's the possibility that they could play any one of the following teams on the road in the Wild Card Round: the Denver Broncos, the New England Patriots or the Jacksonville Jaguars. That will all depend on how those three teams do in Week 18. Assuming Denver, New England and Jacksonville all win in Week 18, the Broncos would be the #1 seed, the Patriots would be the #2 seed, and the Jaguars would be the #3 seed.
-How things could really get funky is if Houston wins and Tennessee manages to upset Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon. If that's the case, the Texans would be locked into the #3 seed, and depending on how things play out around the NFL, they could end up playing a Wild Card Round home game against either Jacksonville, the Buffalo Bills or the Los Angeles Chargers, a trio of teams that Houston has already defeated this season.
Hopefully you've managed to sift through all of this information, but if not, in less than one week, we'll know for sure who, where and when the Texans will be playing in the opening round of the Playoffs.